To Begin a New Life
by Cassie Jamie
Summary: Newcomers Xan and Nick.
1. To Begin A New Life - Part 1

Disclaimer:

I don't own any of the characters (except Nick & Xan), I'm going to use this for money, Higher Ground belongs to the FOX FAMILY channel, I don't own the name ford explorer either, yatsa, yatsa, yatsa.

Background:

16-year old Nickolas Francisco Noellesen and his twin sister, Xan (pronounced Zan) Aleeza Noellesen, are brought to Mt. Horizon after their foster mother catches the two getting high in the backyard of their school. They are not happy. They usually don't talk to anyone but each other – a habit from when they were seven and a half.

To begin a new life   
April 17th, 2000   
8:26 am The blue-silver Ford Explorer came from behind the trees, up the dirt road.   
"Come on guys. You know I love you and so does Bob, Sadie, and Zillah. You two need some help." The fourtyish blonde woman behind the wheel said.   
The two teenagers, one boy and one girl, sat silently. They stared out the window as though the woman had said nothing. They made no move to anwser or talk back – just sat there.   
"Xan, honey, come on. I know you can talk some sense into Nick. Don't look at this as a punishment, think of it as beginning a new life." The woman sighed, "Look, you both heard the judge until you two get your grades up and get off the drugs and alcohl, we can't adopt you."   
The two still sat silently, only now they were looking at the woman.   
"Remember, how if we don't adopt you two soon, you'll be placed in another home?"   
"Emily." The girl, Xan, said, simplily. She didn't need to say more. That was the first word either Xan or Nickolas had said to her in almost two weeks.   
Emily Georgian looked up at the road, "There it is, guys. Mt. Horizon."   
Xan looked at her twin brother. She cupped her hands around his right ear and began to whisper, "Is it just me or has Emily gone nuts?"   
Nick looked at Xan, and cupped his hands around her left ear, "She's completely lost it. I mean it's not like we asked Sadie or Zillah to come smoke a joint wit' us."   
The car came to a stop, and Emily unlatched her seatbelt, "Come on guys."   
Xan and Nick reluctantly undid their seatbelts and climbed out of the car. They looked around and could a glance at a man who was comeing their way.   
Xan again whispered to Nick, "Isn't that the headmaster?"   
"I dunno. I didn't read the brochure to this place."   
Xan watched Emily greet the man, while Nick leaned against the car.   
"Hi, I'm Emily Georgian. You must be Peter Scarbrow."   
"That would be me." A woman came up behind him, "And this is Sophie Becker."   
Emily looked back at the twins, "Xan, Nick, come here."   
Xan rolled her eyes at Nick, who walked slowly toward the trio of adults.   
"This is Xan Aleeza Noellesen and this is Nickolas Francisco Noellesen." Emily said, and Xan looked at her like she was nuts.   
Peter shook Xan's hand and then Nick's. They each replied with a nod then glared at their foster mother.   
"I, um, have to be going. My two daughters aren't exactly happy about this arrangement."   
"Take. Us. Home." Xan said.   
Emily looked at Xan. Xan always spoke in clipped sentences. That was the first sentence Xan had said in two weeks.   
"Emily can't take you two home until you both are able to." Peter said, seriously.   
Emily looked at them. She gave Xan a kiss on the forehead, "I love you. I'll get you as soon as Mr. Scarbrow says I can. Nick, help me get your stuff."   
Nick walked back to the car and took out the two suitcases, and the two bookbags. He walked back and placed them at Xan's feet. He waved goodbye to Emily, who frowned, but got in the car.   
Peter motioned for the two to follow, and each grabbed their respective suitcase and backpack before doing so. They followed him to an office from what they could gather, and stood in the room still clutching their stuff.   
"You can put your things down on the table." He told them and they dropped the bags loudly, "Now there are some rules to go over before you two go to the dorms. One, There is no use of drugs or alcohl. Two, there is no violence. Three, there is no smoking. And Four, there is no sex."   
Xan threw her brother a 'That's-really-gonna-happen-with-us' look.   
Peter opened Xan's backpack and emptied it out. A pack of cigerettes fell from the other things, "This is an example of what's not allowed." He handed them to Sophie, who threw them in a bucket of water that just happened to be there.   
He looked through the things and came up with a syringe, "Another thing that's not allowed." He set it aside, and then carefully put each item indiviually back into Xan's backpack.   
He did the same for Xan's suitcase, Nick's backpack, and Nick's suitcase, coming up with another two packs of cigerettes, a small amount of cocaine in a plastic baggie, another syringe, and a bottle of beer. Sophie put them in a bin and walked out of the room.   
"Now you two can go to your dorms." He said, watching them pick up their things.

10:04 am

Xan and Nick sat at a picnic table, notebooks in front of them.   
Xan, now dressed in a black shirt and black pants, looked at what was around them. The dorms, Peter's office, tables, house, shack. Unknown to her, she'd drawn out Mt. Horizon in her notebook.   
Nick, extremly unhappy to be where he was, instead of at home, was writing down what he thought would be the best way out. He too was dressed in black, and glared at anyone who looked at them.   
Daisy looked at the two newcomers, "More losers for the club."   
Shelby looked at Scott, "I heard they don't talk."   
Katherine looked out the window at them, "I saw the girl unpack her stuff. She's got a million horse things."   
"The guy's got everything in black." Auggie interjected.   
Xan looked up at the window, then hid her face. There was no point in getting to know any of them. They were going to leave her and forget about her.

11:17 am

Xan sat against the bottom of a tree. She'd been able to sneak away from the rest of the teens, and get back to the dorm. Peter had obviously never searched a bag like her's before, because a few cigerettes were covered by a piece of fabric in her bag. She'd grabbed them and snuck into the woods. Nick had followed her, with his own cigerette already lit.   
"So, how we gonna get out of this place?" Xan asked, exhaling a puff of smoke.   
"Well, from what I can gather, not easily. The main road probably has cops gaurding it. That lake probably leads to a river. If we hike down to a certain point, we can make a raft out of something, then take that to where ever the river goes. Or we take the road less traveled by, and stay here."   
"Whattaya nuts? I am not staying here. They will betray us, the same as Emily and Dad and Lizzie and Ory." Xan looked at her brother like he was a Martian.   
"Good point. So we go. Tomorrow night. After we can slip away." Nick said, taking in another drag from his cigerette.   
Shelby leaned against a tree – she had heard everything.

*****   
End of Part one   
Part two will be up soon (hopefully)   
Cassie Jamie   
Noahxfiles@aol.com


	2. To Begin A New Life - Part 2

Disclaimer:   
I don't own any of the characters (except Nick & Xan), I'm going to use this for money, Higher Ground belongs to the FOX FAMILY channel, yatsa, yatsa, yatsa.   
Background:   
16-year old Nickolas Francisco Noellesen and his twin sister, Xan (pronounced Zan) Aleeza Noellesen, are brought to Mt. Horizon after their foster mother catches the two getting high in the backyard of their school. They are not happy. They usually don't talk to anyone but each other – a habit from when they were seven and a half.   
P.S. _Italics_ are thoughts & **Bold** is writing.

To Begin a New Life   
April 17th 2000   
1:49 pm Xan walked behind Peter into his office. Nick was with Sophie, and Xan guessed he was already getting the lecture she herself was about to get.   
_'Smooth move, Moron. Go back to campus with the same clothes you were smoking in, and run right into headmaster hardass.'_ Xan thought to herself.   
Peter opened the door, and Xan glared at him as she walked through it.   
She sat down in one of the chairs, still glaring at him.   
Peter sat down at his desk and got right to the point, "You and Nick were missing for almost two hours. And when you came back, you ran into me – still smelling like smoke."   
Xan picked up a piece of paper off the table next to her chair, and got up to get a pen off Peter's desk. She grabbed one and began to write something down, but Peter stopped her.   
She glared at him again, "I. Don't. Like. You."   
Peter nodded his head, "Fine. Now I want the cigerettes and I want to know where you hid them."   
Xan was still and silent.   
"Now, Xan."   
She sighed, reached into her pocket, and withdrew the three extra cigerettes. She handed them to Peter.   
"Where did you hide them?" He asked, throwing the cigerettes into the bucket of water that was still there.   
Xan reached for the paper and pen. She put the pen in her hand and wrote something down.   
Peter picked it up and looked at it.   
- **Our Suitcases** –   
The door opened and Nick looked at his sister. She stood up, walked over to her brother, and out onto the porch.   
Peter walked onto the porch, "Nickolas."   
Nick looked at Peter.   
"Give me the cigerettes." He held out his hand for them.   
Nick looked at his sister who gave him a 'don't-even-think-about-it' look.   
"Now."   
Nick reluctantly tooked them out of his pocket, and gave them to him.   
"Go back to your dorms, and shower before going to dinner." Peter said, looking at the two of them walk away.   
Sophie walked over, and jumped up the stairs, "Did you get them?"   
Peter held up his hand revealing the cigerettes.   
"So what are we going to do with them?"   
"Until they start talking, I don't know. However, we'd better keep an eye on them. They're probably going to try to run."

5:07 pm

Xan sat at the picnic table once again with her notebook, only this time she'd written in it.   
"Hi."   
Xan looked up. One of the other girls stood there.   
- **Hi**. – Xan wrote on a piece of paper.   
"Are You Xan?"   
- **Yes**. -   
"I'm Shelby." She said, sitting down.   
- **Pretty name. I had a friend named Shelby once. **-   
"So, umm, what are you in for?"   
- **My foster mom caught me & Nick getting high at school about four monthes ago. u?** -   
"My dad made a deal with a judge – Here, instead of Juvie."   
- **Oh.** -   
"Look. Sophie is going to take me and Juliette down to see some horses tomorrow and Sophie thought maybe you'd like to come with us."   
Xan thought for a moment, - **sure.** –

6:15 pm

Nick waited for Xan outside her dorm. He'd had a nice "talk" of sorts with the guys earlier on the best way out and he was anxious to share this new information with Xan.   
He looked at his watch again – Xan should have been out fifteen minutes ago.   
"Sorry." Xan whispered, comeing over, "I was looking at my horse stuff and lost track of the time."   
"It's okay. So the other guys gave me some information on previous escapes."   
"I'm listening."   
"No one's ever made it far enough before Scarbrow found them, but that's because no one's ever done a land/sea route before."   
"Uh-huh."   
"If we go by land, there'll be cops to catch us. If we go by water, search and rescue will find us. However, if we go half on land, half by water, we've got a good chance."   
"So it's definate – tomorrow, after dark, half n' half."   
"Yeah."   
"Okay. Just two of the girls invited me to go see horses, so I'm gonna go."   
"Okey-dokey." Nick kissed Xan's cheek, "Goodnight."   
"Night." Xan whispered, then walked into her dorm.

*****   
This is the end of part two.   
Part three will be up very soon.   
Cassie Jamie   
NoahXfiles@aol.com


	3. To Begin A New Life - Part 3

Disclaimer:   
I don't own any of the characters (except Nick & Xan), I'm going to use this for money, Higher Ground belongs to the FOX FAMILY channel, I don't own the name Ziploc either, yatsa, yatsa, yatsa.   
Background:   
16-year old Nickolas Francisco Noellesen and his twin sister, Xan (pronounced Zan) Aleeza Noellesen, are brought to Mt. Horizon after their foster mother catches the two getting high in the backyard of their school. They are not happy. They usually don't talk to anyone but each other – a habit from when they were seven and a half.   
P.S. _Italics_ are thoughts and dreams & **Bold** is writing.

To Begin a New Life   
April 18th 2000   
6:00 am _6-year old Xan looked wearily at Nickolas. It had been hours since their dad had been home and their mother was definitely on a high._   
_ "Hey! Nicky! Xannie! Look, Santa Claus is here!" 25-year old Mae Alice Noellesen yelled to her children._   
_ Xannie sat on the counter and looked out the window, "I wish we could go to school or go to the park or something."_   
_ Nicky looked at her, "Me, too." He put his arm on his shoulder._   
_ "Promise me you'll never do that." Xannie said._   
_ "Do what?"_   
_ "What mommy does."_   
_ "I promise." Nicky looked at his sister, "Now you promise me."_   
_ "I promise, too." Xannie said, as a man walked up the driveway, "Daddy's home." She whispered._   
_ Xannie and Nicky jumped off the counter and hid under the kitchen sink._   
_ They heard the door slam, followed by curseing, "Where are you two?"_   
_ The twins were deafly quiet. They knew what cursing meant – and they knew to hide or face their father's wrath._   
_ "Mae!" He yelled._   
_ "Mikey! Look, Santa's here early."_   
_ The twins heard footsteps on the stairs and then loud curseing and yelling. Soon, footsteps came again, and the two watched their father through a crack in the wood cabinet._   
_ "What's he doing with that?" Xannie asked Nicky. They weren't allowed to touch the gun – it wasn't their's or their mom's or their dad's._   
_ Nicky looked toward the door – Sammy, their 10-year old brother, should've been home a half hour before. It swung wide open._   
_ "Mom! I'm home!" Samuel Ryo Noellesen yelled, unknowing of what was about to happen._   
_ Bang._   
_ Xannie watched her brother fall to the floor, "Nicky." She whispered, all color drained from her face, but she still watched out the crack in the cabinet._   
_ Bang._   
_ The twins father fell down beside Sammy._   
_ Nicky and Xannie crawled out of the cabinet and to Sammy's side._   
_ "Sammy. Sammy, wake up. Please don't leave us alone. Sammy wake up!" Xannie and Nicky pleaded._   
_ The two looked up as their mother came down the stairs._   
_ "Mommy!" Xannie cried, holding her up hands to be picked up._   
_ Mae picked up the gun, "Go to your room guys."_   
_ The two were rooted to the spot._   
_ "Now."_   
_ Xannie and Nicky stood up and sat at the top of the stairs._   
_ Bang._   
"NO! MOMMY! SAMMY!" Xan screamed, threashing around in her bed, "PLEASE!"   
"Xan!" Sophie yelled, shaking Xan by her shoulders.   
Xan opened her eyes.   
"Are you okay?" Sophie asked, as Xan jumped out of her bed to go stand outside.

8:43 am

Peter walked over to Xan, who was sitting on a swing on the main house's porch, "Hey, I thought maybe I could talk to you for a moment."   
Xan just continued to look ahead of her, as though something was unfolding before her and couldn't look away for a moment.   
"Sophie said you had a nightmare last night."   
Nothing.   
"She said you woke the entire dorm."   
Still nothing.   
"Xan, We are trying to help you." Peter sighed, "I know I can't make you talk, but I know this is only going to make you and Nick want to run even more. You and Nick are confined to Mt. Horizon's campus for the next week."   
Xan looked at Peter through wide eyes, then walked away.

9:03 am

Nick sat on Xan's bed. He'd gone looking for her when she hadn't shown up for their first day of school. After ditching the teacher when she wasn't looking, Nick had gone to her dorm. She was sitting next her bed in the corner. He'd managed to coax her out and get her to sit on her bed.   
"So it happened again."   
"Yeah. I managed to wake up the whole dorm."   
"Becker took those two girls to town. I guess Headmaster hardass said you couldn't go."   
"And he said we're both, and I quote, 'Confined to Mt. Corizon's campus for the next week.' I wish we had never come here."   
"Me, too." Nick said, "So what are you going to do when we get home?"   
"First, I'll play with Sadie and Zillah, then go out and have a smoke."   
Nick laughed, "Typical Xan Aleeza. I'm going to have a smoke, then play with the girls."   
"Nicky, do you remember Sammy?" Xan asked.   
"A little. His image, his eyes, when took us to the park when we were four."   
"I can't remember. The nightmare I had last night – I saw you when you were ten, not Sammy. I can barely remember his voice."   
Nick put his arm around Xan, as he had so many times before, "It's okay Xannie. It's just been a long time since we watched a video tape of Sammy or seen a picture. When we get home, I'll get a ticket to the police station in Syracuse and get the box. They'll still have it. Tony promised he'd keep it for us."   
Xan nodded her head.

12:11 pm

Nick sat in a chair in Peter's office. Peter had spent the last five minutes trying to get Nick to talk, but Nick knew not to speak. His father had taught him and Xan in the first six years of their life, that no matter what they say – it was wrong.   
"Nick, if you start talking, you can go home sooner."   
_ 'That's what you say – Not what you mean.'_   
Peter sat silently for a moment, searching for words to say.   
_'That's right. You realize you can't get me to say the wrong thing – I'm no one's punching bag.'_   
Peter watched Nick for a moment, "Who's Sammy, Nick? Xan screamed that name at the top of her lungs last night. Who is it?"   
Nick closed his eyes against the memory. He hated that memory more then anything in the world. No one had been able to like him after they found out about Sammy – he wasn't going to let that happen again. Not to Xan, either.   
"Nickolas – Who is Sammy?"   
Nick looked at Peter, tears flowing down his face, "I couldn't stop him!" Nick cried, then gathered himself, and closed his mouth.   
Peter looked at Nick, "He was your brother. I went back into your file to when you and Xan became wards of the state." He held up the file, "He was killed by an intruder in the house. You and Xan were the only ones who survived."   
Nick looked out the window. _'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! You walked right into that! Why do you ever trust people!?!?! Don't trust them!'_ Finally, Nick stood up and walked toward the door.   
"Nickolas. You can't leave until I say you can."   
Nick gave him the finger, then walked out the door. He started to shake as he walked down the stairs. He headed toward Xan's dorm.   
Scarbrow and Becker had gone through their suitcases, but they'd missed one place.   
Xan had a habit of hideing Marijauna or cocaine in her suitcase – and she always had some.   
Nick jumped up the stairs and pushed open the door, unaware that Peter was following him. "Hey." Nick said to Xan, who'd already pulled her suitcase out from under her bed.   
"Yo."   
Nick bent down and pulled the backing out of her suitcase. He gently untaped the ziploc bag from it, and picked it up, "How much you what?"   
"She'll be having nothing, as will you." Peter said, takeing the bag from the very astonished Nickolas.   
Nick and Xan's shocked expressions changed to glares, and both looked away.   
Peter held up the bag, "Drug withdrawal is not fun – I know. However, you will not get high to avoid the withdrawal."   
Nick wrote something on a piece of paper, then handed it to Peter.   
- **How would you know?** –   
Peter sat down to have a long conversation, "This is how I know."

11:33 pm

Xan and Nickolas reached the edge of Horizon's campus and looked back.   
"Do you think they'll come lookin' for us?" Xan asked.   
"Maybe. If the insurance on this place involves runaways, they will." Nick said.   
Both looked back at the campus. Their eyes were dull white against the black of the night and their dark clothes – And three pairs of eyes looked back.   
"Nick – let's go!" Xan yelled.   
Nick grabbed Xan's sleeve, then ran toward the woods.

11:34 pm

Katherine, Scott, and Shelby watched Xan and Nick run.   
Katherine looked at her two companions, "We should tell Peter."   
"In the morning. Let them get far enough away to think things over." Shelby said, looking at Katherine, "If they don't come back, then we'll tell Peter. There's no sense in getting them in trouble if they come back."   
Katherine looked at Shelby, "Good point. What if Sophie or Peter comes looking for them though?"   
"Then we tell."

4:27 am

Sophie crept in the girls' dorm. She'd promised Peter she would check on Xan in the morning, but she didn't know if Xan had already gotten up from another nightmare.   
She reached Xan's bed at the far end of the room, and reached up to turn on the light.   
Pillows. No Xan – just pillows.   
"Guys. Guys, wake up!" Sophie yelled.   
Each girl groaned and rolled over.   
"Wake up NOW!" Sophie yelled.   
Katherine, Shelby, Daisy, and Juliette sat up.   
Shelby yawned. "What?" She asked, blinking against the light.   
"Where's Xan?" Sophie asked, anxious.   
Shelby looked at Katherine, who just looked back at her with a 'should-we-tell-her-?' look.   
"Shelby, if you know anything, tell me now."   
Shelby looked at Katherine one more time, then spoke, "They left last night. She and Nick headed into the woods."   
"And you didn't tell me OR Peter OR Frank?" Sophie asked.   
"No. We thought they might come back and we didn't want to get them in trouble."   
Sophie ran out the door, followed by the four girls. She ran across to Peter's office, and pounded on the door. "Peter! Peter, open the door!"   
Peter opened the door, "What?"   
"I went to check on Xan like you asked. She and Nick ran."   
"Call search and rescue." He said, grabbing his coat.

*****   
This ends part three.   
Part four will be up soon.   
Cassie Jamie   
NoahXfiles@aol.com


	4. To Begin A New Life - Part 4

Disclaimer:   
I don't own any of the characters (except Nick & Xan), I'm going to use this for money, Higher Ground belongs to the FOX FAMILY channel, yatsa, yatsa, yatsa.   
Background:   
16-year old Nickolas Francisco Noellesen and his twin sister, Xan (pronounced Zan) Aleeza Noellesen, are brought to Mt. Horizon after their foster mother catches the two getting high in the backyard of their school. They are not happy. They usually don't talk to anyone but each other – a habit from when they were seven and a half.

To Begin a New Life   
April 19th 2000   
6:15 am It had been almost two hours since it was discovered the Noellesen twins had left. Peter and Search and Rescue had been searching by the river, while the police and Frank took the woods. Sophie had taken an officer and was searching the main roads. Yet no one had found them.   
Emily, her husband Robert, and their two daughters – Sadie and Zillah – were sitting a table watching the campus.   
"We shouldn't have sent them here. We should just kept them at home and tried something else." Emily said, hopeing that at any moment Xan and Nickolas would appear.   
"There was nothing we could have done, Em." Bob said, wishing for the same thing Emily was.   
Emily watched one of the students get up and walk over to Peter, who was wearily walking toward Emily and Robert.   
"Why didn't you tell us when we asked if anyone knew?" Peter asked Scott.   
"We didn't want them to get in trouble."   
"We? This was a unanounous decision?"   
Scott nodded his head.   
"We're going to talk about this after we find them."   
Peter turned around and ran back to the search and rescue team standing at the gate.

6:30 am

Xan tripped on a tree root, but quickly stood back up and looked at her brother, "Nick, please, let's stop. I'm so tired."   
Nick looked at his sister, "Not until we reach the river. If we can get there, then we'll sit down for a couple minutes."   
Xan nodded and followed her brother.   
"Do you think they're looking for us?" She asked.   
"Probably."   
"Do you think they'll find us?"   
"Maybe – if the guys squealed about the plans, they could be twenty feet behind us or two hours behind us. If not, we're home free."   
Xan looked behind her – no one was there.   
"I wish Dad and Sammy and Mommy had never died." Nick said, tired of walking. He stopped for a moment, and stopped Xan. He could hear the river, and his last statement was washed out of his head by the sound, "Come on, Xannie!"   
The twins ran to the edge of the river.   
"How are we going to go down this? We seem to have forgotten the boat." Xan said, crestfallen.   
Nick pointed to the boat stuck in the rocks, "I put rocks in it to slow it down, then put in the water when we left. I hoped it would be here the way I planned."   
Xan hugged her brother, "And you say I'm the genius."   
Nick jumped into the water and dragged the boat to his sister. He threw their gear inside it, threw out all the rocks, then helped Xan into the boat.   
Xan looked around her. She had that feeling of being watched. Then she saw him. Scarbrow was sitting on a dirtbike or something watching the two of them, talking into a walkie-talkie. Xan hit her brother in the arm, and pointed.   
Nick jumped and began to paddle. Xan watched Peter follow the small boat on his bike on the hill, "Nicky."   
"Shut up, Xan. I know."   
As they hit the rapids, Xan held on to the boat as tight as she could.   
"Xan, hold on." Nick said, as they hit a rock and the boat tilted on to it side.   
Xan let go to grab onto Nick, and was thrown into the water.   
"Xan! Dear God, no!" Nick screamed, watching the water. Xan finally came to the top, but she was unconsious. _ 'Okay, Nickolas Francisco. Xan needs you to help her. She knows you're afriad of water, but you have to help her.'_ Nick thought to himself, then looked up. Peter was running down the hill.   
_'Now or lose Xan, Nick.'_ He thought. He looked at his sister, who was about to be pulled under again. He dove in, and swam towards Xan, hopeing he would reach her before both of them were sucked under.   
Peter pulled off his shirt, and dove in after the two teenagers. Nick had reached Xan, but they would never be able to reach the boat – it was too far ahead. He reached them and began to pull them towards the river bank, but Nick was still pulling Xan towards the boat. Peter grabbed Nick's free hand and pulled him and Xan out of the water.   
Nick sat down next to his sister, "Xan. Xannie, come on, wake up. Come on." He pleaded, "Come on, Xan. I can't lose you. Wake up."   
Peter took Xan's pulse – it was weak, extremly weak. "Stay here." He said to Nick.   
Nick nodded – as long as Xan was there, he would be too.

10:32 am

Xan opened her eyes, and sat up. Her eyes focused on something outside and Xan sighed. They were back at Horizon.   
Nick rubbed his eyes as he sat up, "Hey, there." He smiled at his sister.   
"What happened?" Xan asked, pulling the blanket around her.   
Nick sighed, "You got thrown from the boat. Peter dragged both of us out of the water."   
Xan blinked – now she remembered. She settled back into the bed, "So what's the punishment?"   
"Aside from still being confined to campus for the week, nothing."   
"Nothing?"   
"Nothing."   
"So are we going to stay?"   
"We have to. I'm not happy about it, and this withdrawal could kill a horse, but we're stuck here."   
Xan yawned, "Uh huh." She closed her eyes, "I'm still not going to talk to them."   
"Neither will I." Nick said, settling his head on her pillow and closing his eyes.   
"I love you, Nicky."   
"I love you too, Xannie."   
Peter watched from the doorway. It was going to be a long and hard road, but they would be okay one day.

*****   
I know it was a weird ending, but it's what I can think of.

I'm thinking of doing more stories on Xan and Nick. If anyone thinks I can do some good stories on them, please e-mail me or tell in a review.   
Cassie Jamie   
NoahXfiles@aol.com


End file.
